Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1985 Sep;163(3):1180–1185. doi: 10.1128/jb.163.3.1180-1185.1985

Effect of Calcofluor white and Congo red on fungal cell wall morphogenesis: in vivo activation of chitin polymerization.

C Roncero, A Durán
PMCID: PMC219256  PMID: 3897187

Abstract

Calcofluor White (a fluorochrome dye) affected the growth of Geotrichum lactis by causing lysis of cells at the hyphal tips. This effect was prevented by the presence of an osmotic stabilizer. The growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was also affected, and multicellular aggregates were formed because of incomplete separation of mother and daughter cells; fluorescence microscopy indicated the presence of abnormally thick septa. The formation of rudimentary wall material by G. lactis protoplasts was promoted by Calcofluor or Congo red (another dye). The rate of chitin synthesis in protoplasts and growing cells was enhanced by both dyes. In contrast, both dyes inhibited chitin and beta (1,3)-glucan synthases in isolated cell-free systems. Degradation rates for beta (1,3)-glucan or chitin were not affected significantly by the dyes. Wheat germ agglutinin also affected chitin synthesis in protoplasts.

Full text

PDF
1180

Images in this article

1182Image
on p.1182
1182Image
on p.1182

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Allen A. K., Neuberger A., Sharon N. The purification, composition and specificity of wheat-germ agglutinin. Biochem J. 1973 Jan;131(1):155–162. doi: 10.1042/bj1310155. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Benziman M., Haigler C. H., Brown R. M., White A. R., Cooper K. M. Cellulose biogenesis: Polymerization and crystallization are coupled processes in Acetobacter xylinum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Nov;77(11):6678–6682. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.11.6678. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bowers B., Levin G., Cabib E. Effect of polyoxin D on chitin synthesis and septum formation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Bacteriol. 1974 Aug;119(2):564–575. doi: 10.1128/jb.119.2.564-575.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cabib E., Bowers B., Roberts R. L. Vectorial synthesis of a polysaccharide by isolated plasma membranes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jun;80(11):3318–3321. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.11.3318. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cabib E., Bowers B. Timing and function of chitin synthesis in yeast. J Bacteriol. 1975 Dec;124(3):1586–1593. doi: 10.1128/jb.124.3.1586-1593.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cabib E., Roberts R., Bowers B. Synthesis of the yeast cell wall and its regulation. Annu Rev Biochem. 1982;51:763–793. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.51.070182.003555. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Duran A., Cabib E. Solubilization and partial purification of yeast chitin synthetase. Confirmation of the zymogenic nature of the enzyme. J Biol Chem. 1978 Jun 25;253(12):4419–4425. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Durán A., Bowers B., Cabib E. Chitin synthetase zymogen is attached to the yeast plasma membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Oct;72(10):3952–3955. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.10.3952. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Elorza M. V., Rico H., Sentandreu R. Calcofluor white alters the assembly of chitin fibrils in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans cells. J Gen Microbiol. 1983 May;129(5):1577–1582. doi: 10.1099/00221287-129-5-1577. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fernandez M. P., Correa J. U., Cabib E. Activation of chitin synthetase in permeabilized cells of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant lacking proteinase B. J Bacteriol. 1982 Dec;152(3):1255–1264. doi: 10.1128/jb.152.3.1255-1264.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Haigler C. H., Brown R. M., Jr, Benziman M. Calcofluor white ST Alters the in vivo assembly of cellulose microfibrils. Science. 1980 Nov 21;210(4472):903–906. doi: 10.1126/science.7434003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Harrington B. J., Raper K. B. Use of a fluorescent brightener to demonstrate cellulose in the cellular slime molds. Appl Microbiol. 1968 Jan;16(1):106–113. doi: 10.1128/am.16.1.106-113.1968. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Herth W. Calcofluor white and Congo red inhibit chitin microfibril assembly of Poterioochromonas: evidence for a gap between polymerization and microfibril formation. J Cell Biol. 1980 Nov;87(2 Pt 1):442–450. doi: 10.1083/jcb.87.2.442. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kang M. S., Elango N., Mattia E., Au-Young J., Robbins P. W., Cabib E. Isolation of chitin synthetase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Purification of an enzyme by entrapment in the reaction product. J Biol Chem. 1984 Dec 10;259(23):14966–14972. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Maeda H., Ishida N. Specificity of binding of hexopyranosyl polysaccharides with fluorescent brightener. J Biochem. 1967 Aug;62(2):276–278. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jbchem.a128660. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mirelman D., Galun E., Sharon N., Lotan R. Inhibition of fungal growth by wheat germ agglutinin. Nature. 1975 Jul 31;256(5516):414–416. doi: 10.1038/256414a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Molano J., Durán A., Cabib E. A rapid and sensitive assay for chitinase using tritiated chitin. Anal Biochem. 1977 Dec;83(2):648–656. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(77)90069-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Pérez P., García-Acha I., Durán A. Effect of papulacandin B on the cell wall and growth of Geotrichum lactis. J Gen Microbiol. 1983 Jan;129(1):245–250. doi: 10.1099/00221287-129-1-245. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES